10 Things to know about the Cold War European Map

Cold war Europe military alliances map. Photo by San Jose on Wikimedia

10 Things to know about the Cold War European Map

A period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, as well as its respective allies, is usually referred to as the Cold War. The Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc were the Allies of the United States and the Soviet Union over this period.

The term “cold war” is used because the two superpowers did not engage in extensive direct combat. Instead, the various participants supported opposing parties in significant regional “proxy wars.”

Following their temporary cooperation and triumph over Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in 1945, the two superpowers engaged in a geopolitical and ideological contest for dominance worldwide. The European map was affected by the Cold War in several aspects. Let’s learn about the 10 Things to know about the Cold War European Map:

1. The Iron Curtain

This is the final correction of the Iron Curtain Map. Photo by Kseferovic on Wikimedia

By the end of World War II, the Allies met at Potsdam where Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union wanted to retain control over the eastern European countries. Stalin still wanted those countries that the Soviet armies had occupied during the war. The Iron Curtain, which was the political boundary that divided Europe into two separate areas was initiated.

The Iron Curtain started from the end of World War II in 1945 up to the end of the Cold War. Stalin intended to block the satellite states of the Soviet Union from open contact with the West, its allies, and all the neutral states. The majority of those countries side-lined to the West including NATO members and those who were influenced by the United States.

The Iron Curtain led to several changes in the sides’ economy and the living conditions of many. Several sanctions and agreements had to be signed for the Iron Curtain to be brought down which prevented a lot of negativity.

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2. Isolation and Attempt to Weaken Germany

In June 1948, the Allies introduced Deutsche Mark in Germany which was set to replace the chronically devalued Reichsmark. As this was planned, the Soviet Union aimed at keeping the German economic state weak. The Soviet Union cut electricity supplies and blocked all Allied rails and roads to West Berlin which was under the post-war Allied administration.

Two million inhabitants of West Germany were left without basic needs called for quick action from the Allies like airdrop to combat the blockade. After several interventions, the Soviet Union lifted the blockade after eleven months. Later in 1949, two new German states were formed.

There was the eastern block that became the German Democratic Republic which aligned itself with the Soviet Union. Conversely, the West became the Federal Republic of Germany, an isolated enclave within East Germany. President Harry responded to the major development and offered $13 billion to aid Western Europe in getting out of the economic crisis.

3. 1955 Warsaw Pact

Warsaw Pact in 1990. Member states (dark green) and former member states (light green). Photo by Rob984 by Wikimedia

In May 1955, Stalin set the systematic imposition of Soviet control of the eastern block through the Communist one-party rule. This was through economic integration and military integration through membership in the Warsaw Pact. The 1955 Warsaw Pact was formulated after the integration of West Germany into NATO.

Bulgaria and East Germany were the most complaints under General Secretariats Ulbricht and Zhivkov. Yugoslavia on the other hand went away from the Soviet Union’s control as the leader of the wartime Communist resistance movement (CRM) took control of the country. Initially, the CRM leader Marshal Tito was allied with the USSR but wanted to absorb Albania and Greece which Stalin was not into.

This led to the expulsion of Yugoslavia from the Communist Information Bureau. Yugoslavia became none aligned with the Communists after Marshal took over and started enjoying diplomatic relations with the West. Albania also decided to align with Communist China rather than the Soviet Union. Romania also sorts to deal with trade with western countries even though it was in the Warsaw Pact.

4. Breakup of Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia was created at the end of World War I when the Austro-Hungarian Empire United with the Serbian Kingdom. Croat, Slovenian, and Bosnian territories united to form Yugoslavia. However, the country broke up under the Nazi occupation during World War II.

It led to the creation of a Nazi-allied independent Croat state but was reunited after the war when Josip Broz Tito’s communist-led partisan force freed the nation. The U.S. Government placed a high priority on maintaining Yugoslavian unity after World War II.

Although ostensibly a communist state, Yugoslavia disassociated itself from the Soviet sphere of influence in 1948. It joined the Non-Aligned Movement as one of its founding members in 1961. During the Cold War, Yugoslavia adopted a more decentralized and lenient form of government compared to other East European communist states.

5. NATO Regions during Cold War

NATO map of allies. Photo by Bustan on Wikimedia

NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization also known as North Atlantic Alliance was formed to create a counterweight to the Soviet armies that were stationed in central and eastern Europe. Initially, twelve countries allied to the West were members of NATO but more countries joined later.

The initial founding members of NATO included Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United States, and the United States. The Headquarters of NATO is stationed at Brussels, Belgium with the majority of these countries bordering each other. Later on, more countries joined NATO making a total of 30 that were against nuclear warfare.

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6. Poland’s Map

Initially, Germany invaded Poland but the Soviet Union managed to enter the eastern regions of Poland and they took control over several territories. Several ethnic inhabitants besides Poles included the Czechs, Lithuanians, Jews, and other minority groups.

The annexed territories were later incorporated into the Lithuanian, Byelorussian, and Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republics. They all remained under the Soviet Union. During the Cold War, Poland was never allowed to become an independent state of Soviet control leading to protests. The Communist Party elected their leader but the Poles remained loyal to the Warsaw Pact.

7. The Containment Policy

During the Cold War, there was a policy that was created by the Soviet Union known as the Cold War policy of containment. It was based on the belief that if the West became politically firm and prosperous economically, they could overcome the aggressive nature of the Soviet Union.

The Soviet Union began expanding its territories to Eastern Europe under the containment policy while opposing expansion to the West. This never ended well as the cost of the Cold War was greater than the Eastern economies could withstand.

8. Czechoslovakia and the Munich Agreement

Map showing locations of Czechoslovakia and the Republic of Ireland. Photo by BrownHairedGirl on Wikimedia

Czechoslovakia was a country in Europe that was created in 1918 after the declaration of its independence from Austria-Hungary. After the Munich Agreement in 1938, Czechoslovakia lost more territories to Hungary and Poland.

After World War II, Czechoslovakia was re-established and became part of the Republic of the Soviet Union. During the Cold War between 1948 to 1989, Czechoslovakia became part of the Eastern Bloc. Its economic status was under the membership of Comecon and defense status in the Warsaw Pact.

Czechoslovakia began drifting away from the Communist government during the Velvet Revolution which began on 17^th November 1989 and ended 7 days later. Several Communist leaders resigned and Czechoslovakia split into two sovereign states of Czech Republic and Slovakia on 31^st December 1992.

9. The Removal of Hungary’s Border Fence with Austria

After the split of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, two states, Austria and Hungary were formed. During the Cold War, these states were under different allegiances with the Soviet Union and the West. Austria was jointly occupied by the Western allies and the Soviet Union until 1955.

Hungary was under the Communist regime of the Soviet Union until the end of the Cold War. There was heavy guarding of the Austria-Hungary border by an electric fence that kept the West influence from the Communist East.

In 1989, there was an agreement to end communism in Hungary that led to the removal of Hungary’s border fence with Austria. The removal of the electric fence also influenced several other changes across Europe.

10. The Eastern Bloc, Western Bloc, and Non-Aligned Countries

Cold War map of Eastern and Western Blocs in Europe. Photo by UserGoldsztajn on Wikimedia

Throughout the Cold War, there were different blocs in the European region and the globe as a whole. There was the Eastern Bloc, Western Bloc, and non-aligned nations.

The Eastern Bloc consisted of the Communist regime and the Soviet Union’s allied countries that were side-lined to the East. The group consisted of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America. They were under the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

The Capitalist Bloc or the American Bloc or the NATO Bloc were allowed with the United States. They were socialists who comprised states in the broader Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, Latin America, Western Europe, and North America. Other states also included African countries with histories of Anti-Soviet.

The non-aligned nations formed the non-aligned movement. They comprised India, Indonesia, Egypt, Ghana, Yugoslavia, and some European countries.

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